The Metrical System 425 



Had the system devised by these gentlemen not been 

 final, but subject to revision by another committee of men 

 whose profession brought them into more intimate touch 

 with the every-day wants of the people, the fundamental 

 excellence of the system namely, the simple relation be- 

 tween the unit of weight and that of length, and all the 

 far-reaching advantages which follow from it, would, we 

 cannot doubt, have been disengaged from the fundamental 

 defect of the system namely, the inconvenience of the unit 

 of length selected. At the outset, it was laid down as a 

 principle that the unit of length to be chosen should be 

 unlike any existing unit of length ; because, if it happened 

 to be the same or nearly the same as that of any country, 

 the jealousy which would thereby be produced in other 

 countries would prevent its adoption by them. It would 

 probably have occurred to a committee of business men 

 that, if the unit selected were identical or nearly identical 

 with that in common use by one people, its early adoption 

 by at least one nation would be assured ; and if it had been 

 arranged so as not to be too different from the units of 

 more than one nation the probability of its early adoption 

 by all. would be enormously increased. At first, and in the 

 state of international temper which prevailed in Europe at 

 the beginning of the ipth century, no system that was 

 proposed by France would have been generally accepted. 

 Moreover, time is as necessary for moving a people as it is 

 for producing motion in a mass of matter. In the face of 

 practical convenience, jealousies of the kind feared by the 

 committee of the Academy soon disappear ; if for no other 

 reason, because the individuals who are jealous die, and 

 their jealousies are not transmitted to their offspring, or at 

 least only in a very attenuated form. If the system had 

 fallen to be revised by a committee which was really repre- 

 sentative of the chief occupations and industries of the people, 

 there can be little doubt that it would have directed its atten- 

 tion to this matter ; and if it had done so it would quickly 

 have found that there is one calling or occupation where 

 the people of all countries meet on common ground, with 



